Backlash: Getting mad about urban monsters

Celebrities are now the target of a growing campaign against 4x4s on city streets, reports Emma Smith

Protesters against the use of 4x4s in urban areas say they are targeting celebrity owners of off-road vehicles as part of an escalating campaign. Members of a group calling itself the Alliance Against Urban 4x4s have tracked down and posted notices on vehicles owned by the actors Felicity Kendal and Robert Lindsay, and Chris Eubank, the former boxer.

They are targeting other high-profile figures including David and Victoria Beckham, said to own a Hummer, one of the largest off-road vehicles (it is adapted from an American military vehicle).

The tactics have raised fears that British protesters are moving towards the militant strategies of American groups such as the Earth Liberation Front (ELF), which claims to already have members throughout Europe. ELF activists have set light to 4x4s and doused them in acid.

British demonstrators, who insist they are non-violent, say they plan to attach fake parking tickets to celebrities’ cars